diff --git a/src/input/input_abstract.rs b/src/input/input_abstract.rs
index e84c132df..17c9546db 100644
--- a/src/input/input_abstract.rs
+++ b/src/input/input_abstract.rs
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ pub trait Input<'py>: fmt::Debug {
 
     fn validate_dataclass_args<'a>(&'a self, dataclass_name: &str) -> ValResult<Self::Arguments<'a>>;
 
-    fn validate_str(&self, strict: bool, coerce_numbers_to_str: bool) -> ValMatch<EitherString<'_>>;
+    fn validate_str(&self, strict: bool, coerce_numbers_to_str: bool) -> ValMatch<EitherString<'_, 'py>>;
 
     fn validate_bytes<'a>(&'a self, strict: bool, mode: ValBytesMode) -> ValMatch<EitherBytes<'a, 'py>>;
 
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ pub trait Input<'py>: fmt::Debug {
 
     /// Extract a String from the input, only allowing exact
     /// matches for a String (no subclasses)
-    fn exact_str(&self) -> ValResult<EitherString<'_>> {
+    fn exact_str(&self) -> ValResult<EitherString<'_, 'py>> {
         self.validate_str(true, false).and_then(|val_match| {
             val_match
                 .require_exact()
diff --git a/src/input/input_json.rs b/src/input/input_json.rs
index 27a710058..b66de5395 100644
--- a/src/input/input_json.rs
+++ b/src/input/input_json.rs
@@ -107,7 +107,11 @@ impl<'py, 'data> Input<'py> for JsonValue<'data> {
         }
     }
 
-    fn validate_str(&self, strict: bool, coerce_numbers_to_str: bool) -> ValResult<ValidationMatch<EitherString<'_>>> {
+    fn validate_str(
+        &self,
+        strict: bool,
+        coerce_numbers_to_str: bool,
+    ) -> ValResult<ValidationMatch<EitherString<'_, 'py>>> {
         // Justification for `strict` instead of `exact` is that in JSON strings can also
         // represent other datatypes such as UUID and date more exactly, so string is a
         // converting input
@@ -163,7 +167,7 @@ impl<'py, 'data> Input<'py> for JsonValue<'data> {
         }
     }
 
-    fn exact_str(&self) -> ValResult<EitherString<'_>> {
+    fn exact_str(&self) -> ValResult<EitherString<'_, 'py>> {
         match self {
             JsonValue::Str(s) => Ok(s.as_ref().into()),
             _ => Err(ValError::new(ErrorTypeDefaults::StringType, self)),
@@ -414,7 +418,7 @@ impl<'py> Input<'py> for str {
         &self,
         _strict: bool,
         _coerce_numbers_to_str: bool,
-    ) -> ValResult<ValidationMatch<EitherString<'_>>> {
+    ) -> ValResult<ValidationMatch<EitherString<'_, 'py>>> {
         // Justification for `strict` instead of `exact` is that in JSON strings can also
         // represent other datatypes such as UUID and date more exactly, so string is a
         // converting input
diff --git a/src/input/input_python.rs b/src/input/input_python.rs
index 568c5e08d..0f4ceb672 100644
--- a/src/input/input_python.rs
+++ b/src/input/input_python.rs
@@ -163,7 +163,11 @@ impl<'py> Input<'py> for Bound<'py, PyAny> {
         }
     }
 
-    fn validate_str(&self, strict: bool, coerce_numbers_to_str: bool) -> ValResult<ValidationMatch<EitherString<'_>>> {
+    fn validate_str(
+        &self,
+        strict: bool,
+        coerce_numbers_to_str: bool,
+    ) -> ValResult<ValidationMatch<EitherString<'_, 'py>>> {
         if let Ok(py_str) = self.downcast_exact::<PyString>() {
             return Ok(ValidationMatch::exact(py_str.clone().into()));
         } else if let Ok(py_str) = self.downcast::<PyString>() {
@@ -310,7 +314,7 @@ impl<'py> Input<'py> for Bound<'py, PyAny> {
         }
     }
 
-    fn exact_str(&self) -> ValResult<EitherString<'_>> {
+    fn exact_str(&self) -> ValResult<EitherString<'_, 'py>> {
         if let Ok(py_str) = self.downcast_exact() {
             Ok(EitherString::Py(py_str.clone()))
         } else {
diff --git a/src/input/input_string.rs b/src/input/input_string.rs
index 97fb17a3d..a635188a8 100644
--- a/src/input/input_string.rs
+++ b/src/input/input_string.rs
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ impl<'py> Input<'py> for StringMapping<'py> {
         &self,
         _strict: bool,
         _coerce_numbers_to_str: bool,
-    ) -> ValResult<ValidationMatch<EitherString<'_>>> {
+    ) -> ValResult<ValidationMatch<EitherString<'_, 'py>>> {
         match self {
             Self::String(s) => Ok(ValidationMatch::strict(s.clone().into())),
             Self::Mapping(_) => Err(ValError::new(ErrorTypeDefaults::StringType, self)),
diff --git a/src/input/return_enums.rs b/src/input/return_enums.rs
index 221b76e21..526d2c970 100644
--- a/src/input/return_enums.rs
+++ b/src/input/return_enums.rs
@@ -468,20 +468,20 @@ impl<'data> GenericJsonIterator<'data> {
 }
 
 #[cfg_attr(debug_assertions, derive(Debug))]
-pub enum EitherString<'a> {
+pub enum EitherString<'a, 'py> {
     Cow(Cow<'a, str>),
-    Py(Bound<'a, PyString>),
+    Py(Bound<'py, PyString>),
 }
 
-impl<'a> EitherString<'a> {
+impl<'py> EitherString<'_, 'py> {
     pub fn as_cow(&self) -> ValResult<Cow<'_, str>> {
         match self {
-            Self::Cow(data) => Ok(data.clone()),
+            Self::Cow(data) => Ok(Cow::Borrowed(data)),
             Self::Py(py_str) => Ok(Cow::Borrowed(py_string_str(py_str)?)),
         }
     }
 
-    pub fn as_py_string(&'a self, py: Python<'a>, cache_str: StringCacheMode) -> Bound<'a, PyString> {
+    pub fn as_py_string(&self, py: Python<'py>, cache_str: StringCacheMode) -> Bound<'py, PyString> {
         match self {
             Self::Cow(cow) => new_py_string(py, cow.as_ref(), cache_str),
             Self::Py(py_string) => py_string.clone(),
@@ -489,20 +489,20 @@ impl<'a> EitherString<'a> {
     }
 }
 
-impl<'a> From<&'a str> for EitherString<'a> {
+impl<'a> From<&'a str> for EitherString<'a, '_> {
     fn from(data: &'a str) -> Self {
         Self::Cow(Cow::Borrowed(data))
     }
 }
 
-impl From<String> for EitherString<'_> {
+impl From<String> for EitherString<'_, '_> {
     fn from(data: String) -> Self {
         Self::Cow(Cow::Owned(data))
     }
 }
 
-impl<'a> From<Bound<'a, PyString>> for EitherString<'a> {
-    fn from(date: Bound<'a, PyString>) -> Self {
+impl<'py> From<Bound<'py, PyString>> for EitherString<'_, 'py> {
+    fn from(date: Bound<'py, PyString>) -> Self {
         Self::Py(date)
     }
 }